1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cash dispenser which may be installed in a bank or similar monetary facility for automatically dispensing bills in response to customer's operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cash dispenser is constructed such that, when a customer inserts an identification card into the dispenser and then performs a sequence of necessary operations, the dispenser releases a certain amount of bills as demanded by the customer, as well known in the art. At the instant when the dispenser produces bills as stated, it prints out particular of the account on a slip and ejects such a slip together with the bills.
FIG. 7 is a schematic side elevation showing a prior art cash dispenser of the type described. As shown, the prior art cash dispenser includes a housing 1 which is provided with a bill outlet 2 at its front. A disbursing mechanism 3 is installed in the housing 1 to produce bills from a safe 4 and transports them to the outlet 2, so that a customer who has demanded the payment may receive the bills. Also installed in the housing 1 is a printing unit 5 for printing out the content of an account on a slip 6. More specifically, as a customer manipulates an operation board, not shown, for entering a command for payment, then inserts an identification card 7 into the dispenser, and then inputs a desired amount of money, the dispenser starts operations for releasing bills. The customer's card 7 inserted into the dispenser as shown in the figure is transported to a position below a slip 6 to be imprinted with the indications of the card 7, and then such slip is printed with particulars of the account by the printing unit 5 and then is changed in direction to be advance toward the disbursing mechanism 3 as indicated by an arrow in the figure.
Details of the printing unit 5 are shown in a perspective view in FIG. 8 and in a side elevation in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 8, the printing unit 5 issues the slip 6 by the steps of driving the identification card 7 inserted into the dispenser to a position immediately below a slip sheet 8 which is in the form of a continuous webbing and pressing the sheet 8 against the card 7 by adequate means, not shown, to imprint indications of the card 7 on the sheet 8. Subsequently, a printer 9 of the printing unit 5 is operated to print out the content of the account on the resulting slip 6. A journal sheet 10 also in continuous form is taken up by a take-up mechanism 11 while, at the same time, the slip 6 is cut by a cutter 12 and transported toward the disbursing mechanism 3 in a direction indicated by arrows in the figures.
FIG. 10 shows in side elevation a disbursing structure of the mechanism 3 together with a structure for feeding the slip 6 out of the printing unit 5. Such structures are shown in a front view in FIG. 11. The slip 6 turned upside down by reversing means, not shown, within the printing unit 5 is fed into the disbursing mechanism 3 by a pair of slip rollers 13 face down. Such face-down feed of the slip 6 is adopted so that the slip 6 may be positioned face up when later turned over by a stacking wheel 14. The slip 6 drawn into a receiving section 13a of the mechanism 3 by the slip rollers 13 is fed onto a slip guide 15 by a pair of clamp rollers 16 and 17 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slip 6 has been fed from the printing unit 5. Then, the slip 6 is further driven by coactive belts 18 and 19 and laid on the top of bills 20 face up by the stacking wheel 14, the bills 20 being piled up by the stacking wheel 14 beforehand.
FIG. 12 shows another prior art cash dispenser in a schematic front view. This prior art cash dispenser includes a belt 21, a roller 22 and a sensor 23 in addition to the various structural parts and elements of the previously discussed prior art cash dispenser. Specifically, the slip 6 is not only driven by the rollers 13 but also held between the belt 21 and the roller 22. After the slip 6 has been sensed by the sensor 23, it is further driven by a particular distance associated with a predetermined number of pulses and then brought to a halt. In this condition, the belt 21 is raised and the slip 6 is transported by the clamp rollers 18 and 19 onto a slip guide 24 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slip 6 has been introduced into the mechanism 3. Subsequently, the slip 6 is conveyed in the same manner as in the prior art arrangement of FIG. 10 so as to be laid on a stack of bills.
The prior art cash dispenser shown in FIG. 10 which relies on the rollers 13 for feeding the slip 6 toward the slip guide 15 suffers from various drawbacks. Specifically, the slip 6 is apt to fail to reach a bent surface of the slip guide 15 which serves as a reference surface for the travel of the slip 6 or, if it successfully has reached such surface, it is apt to spring back. Further, while the slip 6 is driven by the clamp rollers 16 and 17 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which it has been fed to reach the bill outlet via the slip guide 15, it is often caught by the slip guide 15. In addition, the clamp rollers 16 and 17 have to be driven or by exclusive or separate drive mechanism which includes pulleys and belts, resulting in a bulky and expensive cash dispenser.
A problem with the prior art arrangement shown in FIG. 12 is that the slip 6 cannot be brought to a halt at a reference surface unless an extra motor control is provided for driving the slip 6 by for a distance accurately associated with a predetermined number of pulses after the sensor 23 has sensed the slip. This, coupled with the need for a belt-and-roller drive mechanism, increases the size and cost of the cash dispenser.
The transport path extending between the printing unit 5 and the stacking section of the disbursing mechanism 3 is basically adapted for bills and not for a slip. Since bills are transported at an extremely high speed for purposes of rapid processing, a slip cannot be redirected with ease and is therefore apt to be caught by the guide to jam the path.
The stacking wheel 14 included in both of the prior art cash dispensers as shown and described turns over the slip 6 when laying it on the top of a stack of bills. Hence, in order that the slip 6 may be presented face up to a customer, it has to be turned face down beforehand by a preliminary step. This not only adds to the overall dimensions of the cash dispenser but also complicates the transport path. Furthermore, since bills and slips are different from each other with respect to weight and flexibility, a bill often fails to enter the stacking wheel to thereby jam the transport path or to drop into a lower part of the cash dispenser. Such occurrence results in the cash dispenser being shut down, thus interrupting the transactions at the monetary facility.
A cash dispenser or similar apparatus which handles sheets includes a mechanism for transferring sheets such as bills from one location to another location. With this kind of apparatus, it has been customary to trnasport a sheet by transferring means which holds the sheet at two or more points to prevent it from rotating or deviating relative to a transport path. The sheet is driven into a receiving section in which a guide or similar member for regulating the rise of a sheet away from the receiving section is disposed.
Regarding this aspect, the prior art arrangement of FIG. 10 fails to transfer or discharge a sheet as far as a predetermined position in the receiving section or causes a sheet to yield due to the force of a roller after it has reached the predetermined position, because a roller is used to drive a sheet into the receiving section. Such a sheet would cause a jam and other various troubles during a subsequent operation or procedure. Moreover, when a slip or similar thin sheet is discharged in a single plane, it hangs down as shown in FIG. 13 or springs up during discharge and, therefore, the direction of flight of the sheet cannot be regulated with ease, further aggravating the chance of jamming.
The prior art cash dispenser shown in FIG. 12 has a shortcoming that the freedom of subsequent processing is limited due to the inherent arrangement of the regulating member and other elements.